Red Beer

Makes 1

My friend Matt makes this with tomato juice, but I prefer Clamato. Either way it's great.

Ingredients

• 1 Dark Beer (like Newcastle Brown Ale)
• Clamato Juice (or plain tomato juice if you prefer but I say try the Clamato)
• Dash of worcestershire sauce
• Wedge of fresh lime
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Ice cubes

Directions

1. Into a glass pour a 50/50 mix of the dark beer and the Clamato (or tomato juice)over ice
2. Add a big fat dash of Worcestershire, fresh ground pepper to taste
3. Squeeze the juice from the lime wedge into the glass then drop in the wedge
4. Stir and enjoy

Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette

Makes 1

There's just something so right about this it's crazy. And while an omelette with say, bacon and mushrooms is excellent for breakfast - this combo seems to cross all mealtime boundaries. It's not just good for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but especially late night - as in just the 2 of you...a couple glasses of a crisp white wine...on the roof under a big blanket. What? A guy can dream can't he?

Ingredients

• A handful of frozen spinach (however much you would like in your omelette)
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• Butter
• Goat cheese crumbles

Directions

1. Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove, add in the frozen spinach and cook until there isn't anymore liquid (but not until it starts sticking)
2. In a small bowl beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper
3. Add about a teaspoon of butter to the spinach and melt it, spreading it evenly over the pan
4. Pour the eggs over the spinach and cook, pulling the edges away from the pan with a spatula and letting the egg run behind
5. When the eggs are set but still a bit moist on top put goat cheese crumbles on one half and fold the other half over to cover the crumbles and let cook about 1 minute
6. Flip the entire omelette to the second side and cook for another minute then slide it onto a plate
7. Sprinkle with a little more fresh ground pepper, grab 2 forks, a blanket and head up to the roof.

Worlds Best Dessert Waffle

When I was a kid, my dad (Bruce) used to have vanilla ice cream topped with maple syrup and peanuts alomost every night after dinner. I added the waffle but the idea is the same and it rocks!

Ingredients

• 2 frozen waffles
• Vanilla ice cream (a good one - don't skrimp here)
• Maple syrup
• 1 can Spanish peanuts (the kind with the red skins and salt on them)
• Powdered sugar for garnish

Directions

1. Toast your waffles (if you want to make it more romantic you can cut them into heart shapes but right out of the package works)
2. Top with a scoop - not too much - of vanilla ice cream
3. Drizzle with maple syrup and top with a handful of the peanuts
4. Sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar
5. Step back and wait for the applause

Cashew Crusted Tilapia

Serves 4

This can be cooked two different ways but prepared the same. Try both - see which you like better.

Ingredients

• 4 Tilapia filets
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup crushed cashews (unsalted)
• 1 cup Panko (Japanese Bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• Butter
• Olive Oil

Directions

1. Season the Tilapia filets well with salt and pepper on both sides and set aside
2. In a large dish or bowl mix the crushed cashews, panko crumbs and cilantro
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and mix into the cashew/crumb mixture well
4. Completely coat the Tilapia filets by pressing into the crumbs and coating on all sides
5. Preheat a skillet on the stove and add 1 - 2 Tablespoons olive oil and about 1 teaspoon butter to melt
6. Add the Tilapia and cook on one side until you can see it has started turning white and is cooked about 1/2 way through
7. Now for the first way - flip the Tilapia and finish cooking on the second side in the skillet
8. Put onto a plate and serve
9. Now for the second way -cook the Tilapia the same way - until cooked about half way
10. Here's where you change things - instead of flipping - add more of the cashew/crumb mixture to the top and drizzle with more melted butter
11. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the top is browned
12. Put on a plate and serve

Black Bean Soup

Serves 4 - 6

This is quick and easy but really good. Just be careful when you use the blender...

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 - 3 ribs of celery, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Olive oil
• 4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• Fresh lime wedges
• Sour cream
• Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

1. Heat a skillet on the stove and add about 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
2. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook until softened (but don't let them brown)
3. Add the garlic and continue to cook
4. Add the cumin and heat until it becomes fragrant
5. Add the black beans and chicken broth and simmer for about 10 minutes
6. Place 3 or 4 ladles full of the beans without much of the broth into a blender
7. Cover and hold the top with a towel and puree the beans
8. Add the bean puree back into the soup and mix well
9. To serve put some soup into a bowl and squeeze a fresh lime wedge over the top
10. Add a spoonful of sour cream and sprinkle with a bit of the chopped cilantro
11. Stir it all together and enjoy

Chilaquiles

Serves 2 or 4, or maybe even just 1

I like to make it in a Pyrex pie plate and add a couple fried eggs on top. it's the perfect 'late-night-after-being-out-partying' food, and also the perfect 'morning-after-with-a-hangover' food. talk about versatile...

Ingredients

• 1 cup green enchilada sauce
• Tortilla chips
• 1 cup salsa verde (green salsa)
• 1.5 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 4 eggs, optional

Directions

1. Cover the bottom of a pie plate with 1/2 the enchilada sauce
2. Cover the sauce completely with tortilla chips
3. Pour 1/2 the salsa over chips and top that with about half the cheese
4. Top with more chips, more enchilada sauce and rest of the salsa
5. Finish with remaining cheese
6. Microwave 5 minutes
7. If you're going to, this is the time to serve it topped with fried eggs

Mixed Jambalaya

Makes 8 - 10 servings

Simple as pie, or in this case Jambalaya - which normally tends to not be so simple.

Ingredients

• 1 pound spicy smoked sausage, the fully cooked kind - cut lengthwise and then into 1/4 inch half circles
• 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined (31/40's are perfect)
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded into bite sized pieces
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (not instant rice)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• One -7 oz can diced green chilies
• 1-2 tablespoons Creole seasoning

Directions

1. Put everything into the rice cooker, stir well, close the lid and turn it on
2. When the rice cooker goes off - it's ready...and really great

Pasta with Clear Sauce

Serves 4

So simple yet totally great! You have to like garlic for this one though.

Ingredients

• Pasta - your choice but I like spagehtti for this one
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 big cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta per the package directions
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan (but not too hot)
3. Add the sliced garlic and lightly brown in the oil - for maybe two minutes (Do not over brown or it becomes bitter)
4. Drain the cooked pasta and pour the olive oil with garlic directly onto it - stir well to mix
5. Sprinkle in some freshly chopped parsley and mix
6. Put some pasta onto a plate and sprinkle with a bit more of the parsley, some parmesan cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste
7. That's it - simple

Bourbon Romaine

Serves me, I mean one

Named after my dear friend Romaine, this is maybe the best thing you can do with bourbon.

Ingredients

• 2 parts bourbon
• 1 part ginger ale
• 1 good splash Angostura Bitters
• 1 large lime wedge

Directions

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice
2. Add bourbon, ginger ale & bitters
3. Stir then squeeze in lime juice then drop in the wedge
4. Think about Romaine

Five Spice Grilled Chicken

Serves 6

So easy but so really good. You can find Five Spice seasoning in any supermarket spice aisle. And if you can't - go yell at them and tell them you want it.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of extra fat
• 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice seasoning
• 1 bunch green onions, diced very fine

Directions

1. Combine brown suger and Five Spice in a bowl then stir in soy
2. Mix really well
3. Add the chicken and mix really, really well, to coat the chicken so it is all well covered
4. Let marinate an hour up to overnight if possible
5. Pre-heat grill to high
6. Cook chicken until done but not too long or it will dry out
7. Top with the diced green onions

Sake Martini

Makes 1

This is one of my favorites.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Vodka
• 1 ounce sake
• 1 splash Grand Marnier, or any orange liquer
• Ice
• 1 small wedge of fresh orange

Directions

1. Add some ice to a cocktail shaker and pour in the vodka, sake and Grand Marnier
2. Shake well
3. Add fresh ice to a glass and pour in martini
4. Squeeze the orange wedge into the drink and drop in
5. Enjoy

Salmon Tacos

Makes 2

Who says Asian & Mexican food can't mix?

Ingredients

• 4 green onions, white & light green parts only, sliced into thin shreds
• 1/4 cup jicama, sliced into thin shreds
• 1/4 pound salmon fillet without the skin, cut into small pieces 
• 3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Asian chili paste
• 2 corn tortillas
• Peanut oil

Directions

1. Combine green onions and jicama into a "slaw" and set aside
2. Also mix Hoisin and chili paste in a small bowl and set aside
3. Preheat a skillet or wok well on fairly high heat - also preheat a nonstick skillet to heat the tortillas
4. Add 1 teaspoon peanut oil, then the salmon and cook quickly until still a bit moist inside
5. Heat the tortillas in the nonstick skillet
6. Spread some sauce on the each tortilla, top with salmon and then some of the jicama slaw - eat

GRILLING ALTERNATIVE

Preheat grill to medium heat. Keep Salmon fillet whole, rub with peanut oil, plus rub a little oil in grate. Grill for 5-6 minutes each side, flake into large chucks.

Whole Grilled Filet of Beef

Serves about 15

Think one long filet mignon before it gets cut into individual steaks. And here's my thinking - one giant steak is easier to cook than about 10 small ones.

Ingredients

• 1 whole fillet of beef, about 4 pounds
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon each Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions

1. Remove filet from fridge about 45 minutes before cooking
2. Clean and trim the filet, removing the silverskin and excess fat
3. Combine the garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary with 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil
4. Rub oil/garlic mixture all over tenderloin
5. Heat your grill well and cook the filet, grilling until its cooked to your liking (medium rare is perfect, so look for your thermometer to read between 130-135 degrees)
6. Allow to sit at least 20 minutes before serving
7. Serve with horseradish cream

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Cherry Bourbon Lemonade

Makes one

You can make this without the bourbon for a non alcoholic "Pink Lemonade" but...don't

Ingredients

• 2 ounces lemonade
• 2 ounces bourbon
• Jarred maraschino cherries
• Ice
• Small wedge of fresh lemon

Directions

1. Put ice into a glass
2. Add the lemonade and bourbon
3. Skewer 3 maraschino cherries onto a bamboo skewer and place in the glass
4. Stir in about a teaspoon of the juice from the jar then squeeze and drop in the lemon wedge
5. Drink

Dates with Blue Cheese and Bacon

As many as you want to make

The date is the sweet, the blue cheese is savory and the bacon is the salt - but the date is what brings this all together.

Ingredients

• Pitted dates
• Wedge of blue cheese, cut into chunks about 1/2 inch but rectangular so they fit into the date
• Ready Bacon
• Bamboo Skewers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Snip open one side of the date with small kitchen shears
3. Stuff a cube of the cheese into a date and wrap the edges around it to cover the cheese
4. Wrap each date fairly snugly with a piece of ready bacon (trimming off the end if needed)
5. Skewer the bacon wrapped date, putting about 4 on each skewer
6. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes (until the bacon is brown and crispy and the cheese is melting)

Chicken Pesto and Goat Cheese Pockets

Makes 4

4 ingredients - easy and really good.

Ingredients

• 1 package of the large sized biscuits in a tube
• 1 tub store bought pesto sauce
• 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken meat
• Goat cheese - not crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Flatten 4 biscuits out into large circles
3. Spread about 1 teaspoon of pesto onto the center of each biscuit
4. Put 1/4 cup of the chicken and top with a big piece of the goat cheese (1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons)
5. Fold over the biscuit and pinch the edges tight to form a pocket (kind of like an empanada)
6. Place the pockets on a baking sheet with parchment paper on it and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown
7. Enjoy

Mexican Meatloaf

Serves 8

Way way good...and if you don't save some to make a Grilled Meatloaf Sandwich the next day - I'll come find you and hurt you.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef

• 1 pound ground pork

• 3/4 cup bread crumbs (Japanese Panko crumbs work really well)

• 1 package fajita seasoning

• 4 ounces diced green chilies

• 2 eggs, beaten

• GLAZE:

• 1 1/2 cup ketchup

• 1/3 cup apricot jam

• 2 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix all meat loaf ingredients together and put into a greased loaf pan or shape into a loaf and place on a greased baking sheet

3. Mix the glaze ingredients together in a bowl and spread about 3/4 of it over the meatloaf

4. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, or until 155-160 degrees inside

5. Allow to cool slightly, slice into 1 inch thick pieces and glaze with extra sauce before serving

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WATCH ME MAKE IT...

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Dirty Gin Martini with Blue Cheese Olives

Makes 1

The olive juice and the blue cheese olives make this.

Ingredients

• Ice
• 2 ounces gin
• Splash of vermouth
• Splash of the olive juice from the jar
• 2 blue cheese stuffed olives - you buy them already stuffed or simply cram crumbled blue cheese into a couple olives
• Bamboo skewers

Directions

1. Put ice into a cocktail shaker
2. Add in the gin, vermouth and olive juice
3. Skewer the olives on the bamboo skewer
4. Shake the cocktail well to chill
5. Pour and strain into a martini glass, add olives and enjoy

Red Pepper and Blue Cheese Bruschetta

Makes 16 - 20 pieces

This is an awesome appetizer. A different take on the average bruschetta.

Ingredients

• One long thin sourdough baguette
• One - 12 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained well
• Olive Oil
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• One - 4 ounce package blue cheese crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to broil
2. Cut the heels off the bread and slice in half lengthwise, then into 4 even pieces
3. Put the 4 pieces on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and put under broiler so it begins to crisp, 3 to 4 minutes
4. Rough chop the peppers
5. Cover each piece of bread with the chopped peppers and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste
6. Cover evenly with blue cheese crumbles
7. Put back under the broiler to heat through and melt the cheese for about 5 minutes
8. Cut diagonally into 2 to 3 inch pieces and serve

Blue Cheese Stuffed Sliders

Makes 6 small sliders

These are awesome...on the grill, in a pan - just make 'em

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 2 ounces blue cheese crumbles
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Small buns, like those little Hawaiian rolls

Directions

1. Place the beef in a bowl and add the seasoning salt - mix well
2. Divide the mixture into 6 even sized balls, set aside
3. In a bowl mix cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles well
4. Make a big hole in each ball, and cram some of the cheese mix into each, seal back up
5. Preheat grill to medium high, rub each patty with a little olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper to taste
6. Grill on each side until done
7. Toast or grill buns and place one burger on each
8. Reheat any leftover blue/cream cheese mixture in the microwave and serve on the side to dip